Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is a fugitive and has been charged with allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation.Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press
The United States is seeking the extradition of a Montreal man who has been arrested and charged with murder conspiracy, amid media reports that the case is related to international drug-trafficking allegations against former Canadian snowboarder-turned-fugitive Ryan Wedding.
Atna Onha, 40, appeared in court in Montreal on Tuesday, but few details were available about the allegations. La Presse and Radio-Canada reported that the alleged victim is someone who was expected to be a witness in the case against Mr. Wedding, who is believed to be in hiding in Mexico and is the subject of a US$10-million reward offered by the FBI.
Mr. Onha’s lawyer, Daniele Roy, said in an interview that U.S. authorities requested his extradition. But she said she could not discuss the case because she had no instructions from her client.
The court appearance came a day before the commissioner of the RCMP was scheduled to join American law enforcement officials in Washington to announce a series of recent “law enforcement actions.” While the officials did not confirm the details of the announcement, the list of speakers includes two California officials who have been involved in the Wedding prosecution.
Canadian ex-Olympian added to FBI’s most wanted fugitives list; $10-million reward offered
American prosecutors allege Mr. Wedding, who competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, leads an organized crime group that moved large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other locations in the U.S. The FBI said Mr. Wedding is also wanted for allegedly orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder in Southern Ontario.
Mr. Wedding has been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list since March.
Quebec’s La Presse newspaper reported that Mr. Onha is accused of murdering Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia – a Canadian who was once part of the Ryan Wedding organization – in Colombia in January.
No documents relating to Mr. Onha were immediately available from the U.S. Department of Justice or the Montreal courthouse.
Katelyn Moores, a spokeswoman for Justice Canada, said, “Mr. Onha was provisionally arrested today at the request of the United States. He is wanted to stand trial in California for conspiracy to commit murder and other charges.”
Mr. Onha has previously faced criminal allegations in Quebec, including charges that he dealt large quantities of crack cocaine in 2012, according to publicly available court rulings. However, according to a judicial ruling, much of the evidence in that case was excluded on the grounds that police conduct violated his Charter rights.
Officials with the RCMP, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice did not answer The Globe and Mail’s questions Tuesday about the Montreal arrest, the status of Mr. Wedding’s case or the planned announcement on Wednesday.
Previously, police on both sides of the border have alleged Mr. Wedding is being sheltered by the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, which was recently designated a terrorist group by the Canadian and U.S. governments.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had charged Mr. Wedding and several of his accomplices in the Central District of California. Wednesday’s announcement is to feature remarks from U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who leads federal prosecutors in that district.
The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, will also attend the announcement.
Canadian could be sentenced to death as U.S. revives capital punishment
Mr. Onha, who was arrested Tuesday morning, appeared in Montreal Superior Court by video link. He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to traffic drugs, but no details were released. His next court appearance is scheduled for February.
The allegations against him have not been tested in court.
In Ontario, several truckers are facing extradition to the U.S. amid allegations that they acted as cocaine couriers for Mr. Wedding’s drug network.
Toronto lawyer Brian Greenspan, who is representing one such suspect – Gurpreet Singh – said he has filed a motion seeking greater disclosures from Canadian officials.
“The motion was asking for a number of pieces of information. Included in that was the identity of what’s called ‘the co-operating witness,’” Mr. Greenspan said.
Despite media reports identifying the man, Mr. Greenspan said prosecutors have refused to confirm those details.